♪ back now with more of "today" on this tuesday morning, the 18th of december, 2012. a pretty day here in new york city. a little gray and drizzly. you look at some of the nice folks who have come down one week before christmas to get a look at that beautiful rockefeller center christmas tree. seven days -- well, six, i guess. >> seven. >> to shop? >> i believe so. >> all right. well, let's not have a fight about it. that wouldn't be the christmas spirit. i'm savannah guthrie alongside al roker, david gregory is in for matt, and willie geist. what do we got coming up? >> well, we're going to go back to newtown and talk about the

tragedy there. we'll talk to natalie in a few minutes, but also look at some of the gentle acts coming out of there, including some comfort dogs that have been brought in from chicago, just so kids and other people can pet them and feel a little bit better this week. >> we'll talk about the acts of kindness that people are doing as well just ahead in our take three. >> and speaking of take three, jenna bush hager will be joining us. she herself having been a teacher. we'll share some thoughts about that. and then we're going to take a turn toward the holidays. we've got three amazing gingerbread homes. these are more than homes. these are incredible structures. >> gingerbread mansions? >> some mansions. one is a cathedral. >> i've been nibbling at those all morning. is that wrong? >> i know. i wanted to speak to you about that. three finalists competing in our quest for the best competition. how will the cookie crumble? we'll find out. also, if you still have

christmas shopping, we have some must-have tech gifts for you from old school pacman, ghost lamp, the a remote controlled angry bird. >> we're calling it "tech the halls." >> i like that. did you just come up with that? >> yeah. not really. but first, we want to get the latest on newtown, connecticut. let's go to natalie morales. good morning again to you. >> good morning. with just a week to go until christmas, you see the christmas tree in the center of town is now growing into a makeshift memorial. it's covered in flowers, balloons, teddy bears, all in tribute, a touching tribute to the victims of the tragic shooting here at sandy hook elementary school. on monday, two of the victims were remembered by this community overcome by grief, and today, two more children will be laid to rest. hundreds gathered on monday to say goodbye to 6-year-old jack pinto. a little boy who loved sports, idolized the new york giants' victor cruz, who remembered pinto sunday. his father called the loss

unimaginable. and said most of all, jack loved to play with his friends and keep up with his big brother. many of those friends attended the service. much too young to say goodbye. >> they were being comforted, and yet protected and sent a message of you're being secure now because the worst is over. >> reporter: not far away, mourners remembered 6-year-old noah pozner. the little boy with a perpetual smile, described as a smart, funny child, who loved to eat tacos and loved animals. pozner's mother spoke at the service, calling noah her little man. noah's twin sister ariel survived the shooting in another classroom. near sandy hook elementary, messages of hope surround the ever growing memorial to the victims. as the town tries to cope, investigators are searching for answers. on monday, atf agents verified that nancy lanza and her son had visited local shooting ranges to practice firing weapons, though

they hadn't done so in recent months. police say adam lanza was carrying hundreds of rounds of ammunition when he arrived at the school on friday. at newtown high school where adam lanza attended class, former teachers say a psychologist was assigned to help protect him. family friends say he struggled with a mild form of autism, and a former school official says lanza had another disorder. he was insensitive to emotional and physical pain. mental health experts say both conditions have no clear connection to violence. >> i've been asked so many times. was he bullied? i can say it's impossible because we all watched him so closely. >> reporter: on monday, moving trucks arrived at sandy hook elementary, now a crime scene. wednesday, students will return to class, but at a different school with plenty of help to make it through. >> the overwhelming support from the community and seeing the town come together like this is

amazing. i'm proud to say that i'm from here. >> reporter: on monday, police confirmed that two of the adults who were shot at the elementary school survived. they're now recovering from their injuries and investigators say they will question them as soon as they're ready and able to. willie, back to you. >> all right, natalie, thank you very much. for the rest of today's top stories, we want to send it back inside to tamron hall at the news desk. >> our nbc colleagues, chief foreign correspondent richard engel and his crew are safe this morning in turkey after they were kidnapped and held inside syria for five days. they were freed last night with an incredible story to tell. engel said they were taken at gunpoint following a deadly firefight while traveling with syrian rebels last week. >> they kept us blindfolded, bound. we weren't physically beaten or tortured. it was a lot of psychological torture. threats of being killed. they made us choose which one of us would be shot first. and when we refused, there were mock shootings.

they pretended to shoot gazi several times. blindfolded -- and then they fire the gun up in the air, it can be very traumatic experience. >> during the ordeal, i made -- i made amends with my maker. i made good with my maker. i made good with myself. i was prepared to die. >> richard says he believes his captors were members of a militia loyal to syrian president bashar al assad and that they were planning to use him and his crew in a prisoner exchange. all were freed after another firefight last night while they were being transported and came upon an unexpected rebel check point. with less than two weeks to go until the fiscal cliff deadline, new signs of progress in our nation's capital. republican leaders are taking the white house's latest proposal into consideration, including in the plan a $2.4 trillion deficit reduction package and tax hikes on incomes

over $400,000. this is the first time that the obama administration has changed its stance on raising rates on incomes of $250,000 and up. medal of honor recipient and longtime senator daniel inouye of hawaii has passed away. after a 50-year career in the senate, the world war ii hero is being remembered for his influential role in the watergate and iran contra scandals. the first japanese american to serve in congress. was third in the line of presidential succession. he was 88 years old. south carolina's governor has chosen congressman tim scott to fill the senate seed vacated by jim demint. scott is a conservative elected to congress two years ago on the wave of the tea party movement. when he is sworn in next month, scott will be the only african-american in the senate. a federal judge has refused to ban u.s. sales of three samsung smart phones even though

a jury decided in august that the models made illegal use of some apple technology. that jury did order samsung to pay apple more than a billion dollars. however, the judge said monday that apple's demands to ban the phones was too broad of a punishpunis punishment and that doing so would harm the public. the u.s. government has fined toyota a record $17 pn.4 million for failing to quickly report a safety problem and delaying a recall. toyota has agreed to pay the penalty without admitting that it broke any laws. the fine stems if a june recall of lexus suvs because the drivers side floor mats can trap the gas medal. it is the fourth fine against toyota in the past two years for similar infractions. hasbro will start marketing a gender neutral version of its popular easy bake oven and use boys in the ads for the toy. a new jersey girl -- yes, a girl, she gathered signatures in her online petition, urging

hasbro to make the change. she was inspired after trying to bake an easy bake for her little brother and found them only in purple and pink. hasbro says the new black, silver, and blue easy bake should be in stores next summer. pretty cool. it is now five minutes after the hour. back to al with a check of the weather. you're a good cook. imagine how good you could have been if you'd had an easy bake as a kid. >> i had a susie homemaker oven. >> oh. >> i don't like to admit that. but i did. i don't have any issues about it. look at this cutie. who is this? >> this is mattie. >> how old is mattie? >> she's 15 months. >> where are you guys from? >> ohio. >> nice to see you. what a cutie. ohio. let's check it out for you. and we've got storms on both coasts. first of all, we've got the big winter storm warnings and watches from nevada all the way into wisconsin. snow, as you see, is getting itself together. as we move into the evening pushing into the rockies,

dropping a bunch of snow, anywhere from one to two feet of snow in the mountains and the rockies, the northern rockies, i should say. and then in the northeast, we've got more snow and wet weather, icy conditions in new england. parts of northern new england >> good morning. foot of snow. we are watching a front that will produce a sprinkle or a rain shower in spots. otherwise, a mixture of sun and clouds. and that's your latest weather. >> all right, al. thanks. coming up next, some furry

friends providing much needed comfort and support in the wake of the terrible shooting in connecticut. we'll have that story right after this. [ male announcer ] no matter what city you're playing tomorrow. [ coughs ] ♪ [ male announcer ] you can't let a cold keep you up tonight. vicks nyquil -- powerful nighttime 6-symptom cold & flu relief. ♪ aunt sally's singing again. it's a tradition, honey. [ singing christmas carols ] mmmm. [ female announcer ] make new traditions

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time now for "today's" "take 3" when we give our take on the stories that have us talking. joining the bench today, contributing correspondent jenna bush hager. >> hi, you guys. >> we're going to get your take on some of this stuff. acts of kindness. in the midst of all that tragedy in newtown, connecticut, all kinds of offers of help pouring in from across the country. one in particular we want to highlight, a very special group of helpers. we'll check in with today's animal advocate jill rappaport to tell us about these dogs, jill. good morning. >> reporter: hi, willie. as you can see, i'm truly surrounded by real fur angels. these are the canine comfort dogs. they're a little tired because they have been working from the early morning hours way into the night. and i'm here with the president

of the organization, tim hechler. these dogs have really made a difference. it's the mission of their heart and they've touch sod many hearts here. >> yes, they have. they're here to bring unconditional love and comfort and compassion to people. >> and you have been to various schools and gone through town, and what is the response you're getting from people? >> the response is for -- it helps them cope with their grief and they smile when they pet the dogs. it's like a big furry counselor. >> reporter: enlast night as we were walking through the town, people would come over and they saw the dogs and immediately came over to them and started petting them. one woman said to me in between crying and looking down, she said it feels so good to smile. >> yes. >> and really, they're therapy. >> they're here to -- they love to be petted and they love to love. and they love everybody. and that's the beauty of the dogs. >> anything that they can do now really can make a difference.

especially for little children who are so happy to see these dogs. well, tim, bless you and your handlers for everything that you're doing. of course, these fur angels -- i'm afraid to tell them they have a very long day ahead of them. they look a little exhausted now. >> how long will the dogs be there in newtown? >> reporter: they will be here through friday? yes. and then they're on the road. they're constantly on the road. they go where they're needed. >> what a wonderful gesture there. jill rappaport in newtown, connecticut this morning. thanks so much, jill. i wanted to get your take on all this. you were a schoolteacher for five years, including a classroom of third graders. when you heard this news and began to hear some of the stories about what the teachers did in their final moments, how did you feel? >> i couldn't even really think about it. it's hard for all of us to think about it. but of course i called and e-mailed and texted all my friends that are still teachers. because i think that's one of the things we don't think about, is teachers. we expect so much for teachers

to raise our kids and, you know, to teach them. but keeping them safe. that was their number one priority. all of the teachers that day did what i think all teachers would do. i hope in some ways it elevates the conversation about teachers in our country and their role and how really grand it is. i mean what we can do. so it's hard for me to even talk about. and i'm just so proud of all of the teachers that were there that day and the ones that are still teaching. >> because other than a family member, i think all of us can point to a teacher who made a difference in our lives. some of us lucky enough, one or two or three. >> there's no more demanding job. i do this and this is really great and i love it, but there's no more demanding job than teaching and i miss it. i just applaud -- can you imagine being a teacher going back to school tomorrow morning? >> no. >> i love when the teachers refer to the kids as "my kids." you hear so many of the teachers say i went in and i got my kids.

it just warms your heart. they are the protector, they're the counselor. they're everything. when you are 6 or 7 years old, outside of -- to your point -- your parents. it's the most important person in your life. >> one of my friends texted me and said i am so grateful for every one of my kids. you'd think her kids would be grateful for her, but that's really where it lies. >> it strikes me that the word hero has become so cheap. we talk about athletes as heroes and movie stars. but think about -- i think we all like to think in our best moment that we would be able to do what they did. but i don't know that. hide your children and literally take a bullet for a group of children. that's heroism. we also want to acknowledge how grateful and thrilled and pleased and relieved we are that our friend and colleague richard engel and his crew are all safe this morn after they were kidnapped and held for five days in syria. richard, his photographer john and producer gazi all safe.

we heard from them a little bit this morning. richard said he had a idea who this group was, a government militia loyal to president assad. savannah, we're just glad he's back safe. >> yeah. this is something that a lot of us knew about the last few days and just were so torn up with worry, so to hear this morning that he was across the border, it's just an incredible relief. it speaks to the danger that our colleagues face every single day. the producers, the crew, john, one of our producers, we know from around here, a new york-based photographer, and to hear them talk about it was really moving. because while thank god they were not physically harmed, they went through hell and i'm just so thankful that we could see their faces this morning and i can't believe they're still smiling. >> when john said i prepared to meet my maker -- >> i made amends. >> i was like oh, my god. it's something you just don't think about. but probably something these folks deal with day in and day out.

>> good for even us to pause as we sit here in air-conditioned studios in new york city and be so grateful for the people in our own news division and all the news divisions who go out into the most dangerous parts of the world to bring these stories. >> we should mention nbc news worked with a lot of different partners to try to find them and is very, very grateful. and the help that it received. >> richard is incredibly close to his mother and we know they all have families who were on pins and needles so their families have them this holiday. >> so great to see their faces. and our last take 3, happened to notice a sign. i saw a guy, he was holding a sign that said "willie geist used to babysit me." there it is. >> there it is. >> and here it is. >> and they both look so young, so we said somehow this possible that willie geist could have babysat -- >> what's your name again? >> my name is david. and this is my wife christine. >> are you in the witness protection? >> after being babysat by

willie. >> david lived two doors down on gateway road in new jersey. he had a sister who was a good friend of my sister, allison. and the key point is that i moved off of gateway road when i was 10 years old. >> why, did something happen? >> that's another story. which means i was babysitting you when i was about 8, 9, or 10 years old. who made that appointment? >> i'm 30. about to be 31 in a week or so. >> so i'm six years older than you. >> so you were like 2. >> and i was 8. >> it wasn't that different. >> it wasn't the '50s. >> were you scarred by him? that's the main question. >> i think i turned out okay. the one thing i do remember is that you were very into darrell strawberry at the time. >> okay. that was the '80s. >> everybody was. >> no lasting scars?

>> no. you were the cool kid on the block. that's what i remember. >> what kind of a block was that? >> cool kid. >> i have to confess, i didn't recognize you because you were 2 the last time i saw you. but it's good to see you, say hi to your family. >> and willie is still available for babysitting duties. >> i have my own bay -- babysitting. coming up, the quest for the best gingerbread contest. who will twin trophy? find out after these minutes. the usual, bob? not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib: atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke. [ gps ] turn left. i don't think so. [ male announcer ] for years, bob took warfarin, and made a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but not anymore. bob's doctor recommended a different option: once-a-day xarelto®. xarelto® is the first and only

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coming up, the hottest gadgets for the holidays. >> there's something for everyone on your list. >> after your local news and weather. looks like your bags didn't make it. we'll send them to your hotel. [ sad music playing ] this is fun. [ sad music continues ] [ knock on door ] your bags, sir. thanks. both: finally! one taste, and you'll understand. enjoy delicious dunkin' donuts coffee anytime. best vacation ever! pick some up where you buy groceries. america runs on dunkin'. ♪ i got it made, i got it made ♪ ♪ i got it made fresh at subway ♪ ♪ breakfast made the way i say ♪ [ male announcer ] at subway, you got it made. try a steak, egg white & cheese, tricked out any way you want. subway. eat fresh.

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>> good morning, everyone. it will be another mile day to day with temperatures about 10 degrees above average and that will change by the weekend. this afternoon will be in the mid-50's and a slight chance for a rain shower. it will be a nice day tomorrow with sunshine and 52 degrees and arctic cold front comes for friday

we're back more with "today." we've got a lot ahead this half-hour. we want to get right away to our toy drive. >> we are so touched. so many people have been contributing to our drive. tim is here from mattel. good morning. what do you have for us? you guys have always been so great. >> thank you. we're very proud to be able to participate again this year. we're donating over a quarter of a million dollars of toys this year. barbie, hot wheels, all part of what we're donating this year. >> as a father of an 8-year-old girl, that's pretty cool. >> it's a digital camera that you take pictures and whatever picture you take shows up as a fashion on her shirt.

>> very cool. >> i'll take one of those. i know it's a toy drive. i'll give it away after i play with it. >> this is not how it works, tamron. >> it's so cool. >> you still have time to help. our toy drive ends on friday. please donate in person or online at amazon.com/today. >> thanks, tim. appreciate it. and now we have a check of the weather. >> let's show you what we've got for today. we are looking at a lot of wet weather here in the northeast. heavy snow, northern new england, wet weather in the pacific northwest with snow showers along the northern interior states. for tomorrow, the sunshine continues along the eastern seaboard. storms along the lower mississippi river valley. a lot of snowy weather in the pacific northwest. heavy snow making its way into the upper mississippi river valley and back into the rockies and r >> good morning. it will be a mild day today.

a mixture of sun and clouds. a slight chance for a rain shower. and that's your latest weather. >> thanks, al. coming up next, the best gingerbread house. gingerbread mansion. >> struck chumpl. >> right after this. get into b. this is a story about jingle the husky pup. >> right after this. t. >> right after this. r. >> right after this. u. >> right after this. c. >> right after this. t. >> right after this. ur. >> right after this. e. >> right after this. ruff! ruff! ruff! ruff! ruff! jingle! let's read the book to him. jingle, stay. and jingle did. ruff! ruff! [ female announcer ] hallmark interactive story buddies.

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"today's" quest for the best is brought to you by target. dream big, save bigger. this morning on "today's quest for the best", we have the best gingerbread houses in america, with a little karate

kid backing music. we asked you to send your obscenely elaborate homemade houses. it's clear not all cookies are ma for eating. these are works of art. we narrowed it down to three finalists. john learner from snow, ohio. laura morrisette from arlington, massachusetts. and jennifer roth from mount taber, new jersey. here to judge the whole thing, award-winning chef and baker hans rockenbagger. his latest masterpiece, a replica of new york city's flat iron building. good morning to you all. >> good morning. >> hans, what are you looking for generally here, as you take a peek at three pretty different gingerbread houses. >> they are all sody. i'm flabbergasted. originality, creativity, execution is key. >> fan out behind your houses.

john, tell me about this victorian brick home. >> this house has three of the hardest candies to find. fruit gum, wrigley's doublemint you can find in buckle loads, but fruit stripe not so much. and the hardest thing to find, white candy canes. white on white. >> so rare candy is your secret. and by the way, you're a dentist? >> i tell my patients to surrender all the candy to the proper authorities. >> that's how he keeps his livelihood. >> what do you think, hans? >> i think it's pretty amazing. i also understand it's 85 pounds, so no one is beginning to steal it so fast. >> these were all driven here so that they could be kept intact. we're going to let that one sink in a little bit. let's move over to laura with an ecofriendly cottage. what makes this ecofriendly, exactly, laura? >> well, i knew i was going to be building this house for display in a window in the town that i live in, arlington. and we had just done a big

initiative for solar. so we have solar panels on the roof. and then we have on the minute man bikeway, one of most used bikeways in the united states. so we've got the bicycle out front ready to go for commuting or for just going down to get something. and then recycling. >> i don't know if you can pan in, but the shingles are actually made of shaved almonds. do you know what it takes to put these on? this is a labor of love. >> it is a little time consuming. >> talk to me about the electricity. is that an advantage for her? >> i don't see it as actually an advantage right now because the solar panel is actually not feeding the lighting. >> you're right. and we don't have double pane windows. >> i love the stained glass windows. it's beautiful. >> old world craftsmanship with those almonds. let's move over to jennifer. this is majestic. i'm just going to use that word right now.

notre dame. tell me about it. >> well, we went to paris last summer for my 40s birthday and really inspired by the architecture. architecture and baking my two greatest loves. my mom and my daughter, my 8-year-old daughter sophia worked on with it us. we had a fantastic time. >> how long does an effort like that take you to put together? >> we calculated about 80 hours and that's from building the model, baking the gingerbread -- >> and this was a family effort, right? this was a family effort, which is a great thing nowadays. now you want to spend time with your kids and put something together. you've got a little icing, you got a cookie. you can't go wrong. >> right. and go off the board with a church, not necessarily a house. we're going to let you look one more time here, hans, and then we have an important announcement to make and a trophy. take one last peek, hans, as we look at these incredible gingerbread houses. one from jennifer, laura and john. >> it is so hard. but first of all, any one of you has a job at rockenwagger

bakery. santa monica, california. but, you know, after all, i grew up in hansel and gretel, i have to say, laura, you stole my heart with the shingles. congratulations. >> thank you very much. >> laura, how do you get your winning gingerbread home home? >> well, we will pack it back in the car and it will go back in the store window. >> it's amazing. >> and we'll raffle it off on the 20th and people will pick it up on the 23rd and have it for christmas eve. >> very cool. >> and they'll have a very famous gingerbread house. >> you guys are all artists. congratulations. great job. well-done, everyone. right now, we'll launch our next quest for the best contest. you warm up those voices, tune your instruments. we're looking for the best today show jingle. solo acts or groups of up to three are allowed. go to today.com to submit your original diddy about our show.

three finalists will win a trip to new york city and a chance to compete live in studio for the title of "today's" best. up next, high-tech for the holidays. but first, these messages. when i'm out with my kids, my daughter's like, "mom, wait up!" and i'm thinking, "shouldn't you have more energy than me? you're, like, eight!" [ male announcer ] for every 2 pounds you lose through diet and exercise alli can help you lose one more by blocking some of the fat you eat. simple. effective. advantage: mom. let's fight fat with alli. have a healthier holiday at letsfightholidayfat.com.

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try pepto-bismol to-go, it's the power of pepto, but it fits in your pocket. now tell the world daniel... of pepto-bismol to-go. "today's" holiday gift guide is brought to you by target. dream big, save bigger. >> this morning on "today's holiday gift guide," must have gadgets from ufos to personal pie makers. katie is here to help us tech the halls. i like it. >> and i brought you a custom light up santa hat with my light-up dress. >> your mom made this dress. >> she sure did. >> very impressive. >> we kick it into high gear. so let's get this going here. >> what else do we have? >> let's start with the hovering ufo with programmable leds. this is great for a secret santa present. automatically -- try to get

going here. you can put your own little light message on here. you can customize up to 21 different messages. and it just takes off. it's pushing down the santa. >> oh! >> next up, this is like the portable speaker that nine out of ten tech experts can agree on. it is the jam speaker. it comes in six different flavors of jams. >> is it wireless? >> it's wireless. typically bluetooth would cost about $500. this is $50. i hit my max limit at best buy. big fan. >> they think you've got a jam speaker problem. >> i do. >> i love this. >> this is great for the traveler. this is a silicone fold-up keyboard, so if you know somebody that has an ipad, you just roll this up -- >> blue teeth? >> bluetooth again. picture keeper. here's an interesting one. for anyone who has a computer, what's the most important thing

on there? all your photos. now for anyone that's not overly tech savvy, automatically you hit one button, it will save all of your photos for your instantly. 8,000 photos. >> it takes some time to begin with, but once you've set it up, only the new ones. personal pie maker. >> love me the pie maker. my mom got me obsessed with this. i can even make a hot pocket. i can make four pies. you can make chicken pot pies. cherry pies, apple pies, in ten minutes. >> is this bluetooth? >> this is not bluetooth. you have to plug this in. big fan. >> tea stuff. >> if you're a tea fan -- we have mr. tea here. >> that's disturbing. >> he sits right inside there. last but not least this is the deep tea diver. for the tea enthusiast. >> pacman lamp. >> 16 different colors on this pacman lamp. you can change the color. you can make it dim.

this is like perfect for setting the mood vintage style. >> bluetooth? >> not bluetooth. >> next? >> plushy stuffed animal. for kids afraid of the dark. has a flashlight in its head. >> finally, angry birds. >> this is an angry birds swimmer. it comes with a full-on kit. you put some helium in it -- >> hold on a second. let's let him go. >> yeah, let him go, al. break the string. >> let him go! >> that's not what it's supposed to do. >> oh! >> you turn him on and he flies across the room. >> go, angry bird! now you just need some pigs. katie this is fantastic! "tech the halls"! whoo! gorgeous holiday tables, but first this is "today" on nbc.

"today celebrates the holidays" is brought to you by silky smooth dove dark chocolate. this morning on "today celebrates the holidays," decorating your holiday table, whether you're inviting over the entire family or just celebrating with a few friends, having a festive table set s th tone for a great event. here to show us the right way, colin cowell. you have so many beautiful tables. what's the number one thing to remember? >> come up with a big picture. each one of these is a different theme. in this one, we went very organic and natural. >> i love it. >> this one is $7 a yard. these are also very beautiful, these wooden chargers. >> and these are beautiful. you can use over and over. i love that. >> use this year round. not just for the holidays. i love the plate. the plates come from a great organization called gifts that

give. every time you purchase from gifts that give, 20% of that purchase goes to charity of your choice. >> fantastic. >> it's about giving back. >> what about the pears? are these edible? >> the only perishable thing that's on the table. i like the idea of balancing the energy of the table. a good way to meet people so there's not that guessing moment when you sit at the table. >> perfect. this is lovely. >> the candles -- there's no such thing as too many candles. >> candles strike a nice blend. >> makes you look like you've just come back from somewhere fabulous. >> an emerald table. green is my favorite color. >> our foundation here, i found these that are clear. >> these are mirrors, right? >> these are mirrors. a great foundation. a little bit of jewelry from the table. working with the emerald green throughout. i love the idea of the oil candles, all the different heights make its beautiful. >> what about the macaroon tower? >> we take the macaroons, put

them on toothpicks, and these are decorative. it gives a beautiful beautiful centerpiece. >> and they're edible. >> edible dessert. love the gold goblet at each place setting. and of course, white chrysanthemums. not a popular flower, but i love the way we use it. >> the artichoke for the nameplate. i love that. >> isn't that cool? >> and moving on, this table. it just takes my breath away. >> this is beautiful. it's like traditional meets today. i love the idea of working with the two different plates, as we can see. the rose bowl in the middle. >> how important are table runners or table cloth? >> we just use these -- it's real easy to make. once again, used a piece of fruit. >> i love that. and of course, we need a great cocktail. >> what have you made for us? >> this is a third, third, third

of gin, vermouth, campari, and then we're good to go with the holidays. >> cheers, colin. you've done a phenomenal job. coming up tomorrow, jill martin's steals and deals. but first, your local news. cheers.

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